¹ See Narducci, E., ‘Orator and the definition of the ideal orator’, in J.M. May (ed.), Brill's Companion to Cicero: Oratory and Rhetoric (Leiden / Boston / Cologne, 2002), 427–43CrossRefGoogle Scholar, at 437. Scholarly attention to Cicero's later rhetorical works tends to privilege the earlier dialogue Brutus over the monologic Orator. Three important exceptions are R. Kaster, Cicero: Brutus and Orator (New York, 2020); Dugan, J., Making a New Man: Ciceronian Self-Fashioning in the Rhetorical Works (Oxford, 2005), especially 251–332CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Narducci (this note). The following analysis supports the idea that Cicero situates the Orator within a larger project of ‘public service’ through literature (Kaster [this note], 212 n. 179). The Latin text of the Orator is from Westman, R., M. Tullius Cicero Scripta quae manserunt omnia. Fasc. 5: Orator (Leipzig, 1980)Google Scholar. Unless otherwise noted, all translations are my own, though I have drawn on Kaster (this note) and on H.M. Hubbell (transl.), Cicero: Orator (Cambridge, MA, 1939) for support.

² See Dugan (n. 1), 253–4 and 261–7 on Cicero's portrayal of his relationship with Brutus in the Orator.

³ The three denials of teaching are Cic. Orat. 43 nulla praecepta ponemus; 112 nihil nos praecipiendi causa esse dicturos atque ita potius acturos, ut existimatores videamur loqui, non magistri; and 117 quando autem id faciat aut quo modo, nihil ad hoc tempus, quoniam, ut supra dixi, iudicem esse me, non doctorem volo. See also Orat. 123 non quem doceam quaero sed quem probem. Dugan (n. 1), 259 describes how by means of these passages Cicero ‘places himself in the more prestigious and important role of doing work of broad cultural importance and not merely delivering lessons like some Graeculus doctor’, a persona that would be inappropriate to adopt in consideration of both Brutus’ erudition and the generally degraded social status of such teachers (see Suet. Gram. et rhet.). The character of Crassus evinces a similar desire not to be perceived as a magister in Book 1 of the De oratore (1.111), while in Book 2 Antonius pretends to be a schoolteacher and everyone laughs (2.28–30). See also Novara, A., ‘La dignité de l'enseignement ou l'enseignement et le dialogue d'après Cicéron, Orat. 144’, Annales Latini Montium Arvernorum 10 (1983), 35–52Google Scholar, at 38.

⁴ status theory (Greek στάσις) was a way of schematizing the various logical and legal issues at stake in a case. Developed in detail by the Greek rhetorician Hermagoras of Temnos (see D. Russell, ‘Hermagoras of Temnos’, OCD ⁵), it formed an important part of the construction and analysis of arguments in Roman rhetorical handbooks (e.g. Rhet. Her. 1.18–25, Cic. Inv. rhet. 1.10–19 and Quint. Inst. 3.6). Despite variations among theorists about how exactly to subdivide issues, the major elements are consistent: see Braet, A., ‘The classical doctrine of “status” and the rhetorical theory of argumentation’, Philosophy and Rhetoric 20 (1987), 79–93Google Scholar, at 83. Because Cicero himself presents different versions of status theory throughout his rhetorical works, in this article I follow the schematization he suggests in Orat. 45, supplementing it with terminology from his Topica of 44 b.c.e. and from the later Quintilian, who offers a matching account (Quint. Inst. 3.6.80–5). For a visualization of a slightly different but still useful status schema, see May, J. and Wisse, J., Cicero: On the Ideal Orator (New York, 2001), 33Google Scholar. For an alternative schematization, see H. Caplan (transl.), [Cicero] Rhetorica ad Herennium (Cambridge, MA and London, 1954), xlvii. For an attempted reconstruction of στάσις schemes between Hermagoras of Temnos and Hermogenes of Tarsus, including an explanation of the variations within Cicero's own rhetorical works as a product of Cicero's ‘keeping up with the latest developments in theory’, see M. Heath, ‘The substructure of stasis-theory from Hermagoras to Hermogenes’, CQ 44 (1994), 114–29, at 121.

⁵ See E. Gunderson, ‘The rhetoric of rhetorical theory’, in E. Gunderson (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Rhetoric (Cambridge, 2009), 109–25, at 113 for Quintilian's Institutio oratoria as a work that ‘exemplifies its own theory of rhetoric’.

⁶ See Kaster (n. 1), 18 for a connection of this passage with Cicero's interest during the mid 40s b.c.e. in casting his literary work ‘as a form of alternative “service to the state”’.

⁷ See Dugan (n. 1), 258–61.

⁸ See Kaster (n. 1), 18–19.

⁹ See also Cic. Orat. 121.

¹⁰ ‘Issue’ is the standard English translation for Latin status. H.M. Hubbell (transl.), On Invention. The Best Kind of Orator. Topics (Cambridge, MA and London, 1949), 20 n. a points out that Cicero uses the term constitutio in the De inventione but turns to status in his later rhetorical works. Cicero does not assign names to the three issues he specifies here in the Orator, but Quintilian, referring to Orat. 45 in Book 3 of the Institutio oratoria, suggests that their names are ‘well known’ (Quint. Inst. 3.6.44) and distinguishes them as ‘conjecture’, ‘quality’ and ‘definition’ (coniectura, qualitas, definitio, Quint. Inst. 3.6.66, cf. Inst. 3.6.80). In section 92 of the Topica, Cicero gives the same listing with slightly different terminology (coniecturalis, definitiua and iuridicialis, or ‘juridical’, an alternative way of describing ‘quality’, cf. Rhet. Her. 1.18 and 1.24). Quintilian's account also mentions a fourth major issue, the ‘legal’ issue, which can deal with the interpretation of laws or challenge the case on procedural grounds (Quint. Inst. 3.6.66, 3.6.83–5). In the Rhetorica ad Herennium, the three issues are distinguished as ‘conjectural’, ‘legal’ and ‘juridical’ (coniecturalis, legitima, iuridicalis), with ‘definition’ treated as a subset of the legal issue (Rhet. Her. 1.18–19).

¹¹ See Rhet. Her. 1.18 and Quint. Inst. 3.6.73 for examples.

¹² See Cic. Inv. rhet. 1.11 for the example of sacrilege, as well as Arist. Rh. 1374a and Quint. Inst. 7.3.10. On ‘definition’, see also Rhet. Her. 1.21.

¹³ Cf. Rhet. Her. 1.24–5, Cic. Inv. rhet. 2.69–109 and Quint. Inst. 7.4. Both Cicero and Quintilian classify the defence of Horatius, who killed his sister when he discovered her mourning the slain enemy to whom she was betrothed, as an example of a juridical or quality-based approach (Cic. Inv. rhet. 2.78–9 and Quint. Inst. 7.4.8).

¹⁴ Quintilian suggests ascertaining the issue by considering what line of defence the orator would pursue if he were allowed to choose only one (Quint. Inst. 3.6.9–10). Using different terminology, Cicero also treats the determination of the issue in the De inventione (Cic. Inv. rhet. 1.10–19).

¹⁵ Quintilian recommends using multiple lines of proof in a doubtful situation and praises Cicero for doing just this in his defence of Milo (Quint. Inst. 4.5.13–15).

¹⁶ Mutatis mutandis with regard to the timing of the action. In the Orator Cicero refers to actions in the present tense (i.e. ‘I am not currently teaching’), whereas trials refer to past events (i.e. ‘I did not do it’).

¹⁷ Cic. Orat. 142 cur aut discere turpe est quod scire honestum est, aut quod nosse pulcherrimum est id non gloriosum est docere? The qualities of uprightness (honestum and cognates) and glory recur in Orat. 145 in opposition to the shameful (turpe).

¹⁸ See Kaster (n. 1), 182 n. 49.

¹⁹ The co- prefixes of cohortando and communicando in Orat. 144, as well as the idea of taking turns reading aloud (interdum etiam una legendo, audiendo), suggest an exchange that takes place between two colleagues rather than a unidirectional mode of instruction. See Novara (n. 3) for a detailed analysis of this passage. Peter White pointed out to me that Cicero's use of ludus in section 144 may be pejorative, a way of further ridiculing school-teaching and exaggerating his own remove from it.

²⁰ See Cic. Inv. rhet. 2.104–7 and Rhet. Her. 1.24 for the deprecatio.

²¹ Hirtius and Pansa would become consul-designates for 43 (Cic. Fam. 9.16.7 = SB 190 and Att. 14.12.2 = SB 366). All these men were Cicero's juniors but were still old enough to hold office and be considered colleagues.

²² See Dugan (n. 1), 259. In a letter to Papirius Paetus written in mid 46 b.c.e. (Cic. Fam. 9.18.2–4 = SB 191), Cicero teasingly invites his friend to join him as an assistant teacher in a ludus that he playfully imagines as a project to occupy his forced inactivity. Compare Cicero's claim in Orat. 148 to be working on ‘weightier and more important things’ (graviora et maiora) with Book 2 of the Tusculanae disputationes, where he describes the schedule at his villa as involving rhetorical exercises in the mornings and philosophical discussions in the afternoons (Cic. Tusc. 2.9).

²³ Dugan (n. 1), 258–9.

²⁴ Quintilian says that ‘quality’ gives the orator the greatest opportunity for creativity and emotional impact (Quint. Inst. 7.4.23–4).

²⁵ See Dugan (n. 1), 254–5 for Cicero's framing of his rhetorical works in relation to his forthcoming philosophical works.

²⁶ An orator who does not know how to deal with minor cases appropriately (for instance by using the grand style to discuss minor water damage, as in Orat. 72) would be ridiculous (Cic. Orat. 99). The metaphor of art is Cicero's own: see sections 7 and 43 for his claim to be ‘shaping’ (fingere) the perfect orator and ‘sketching’ (adumbrare) outstanding eloquence, respectively.